The Ever Changing Ways of Life
by Crystalwolf96
Summary: A different version of monochrome factor I suppose. Not so much focus on Homurabi, more on Akira's feelings and relationships. I'll just go wherever it takes me... T for language
1. Sakura Snow A New Beginning

A/n: This is my first story but make the review as harsh as needed! I want nothing more than to be a better writer!

Ch. 1: Sakura Snow; A New Beginning 

Akira fiddled with his pen. It was September 2012 and the grey-eyed teen just couldn't find the patience to really concentrate on his summer homework. Of course, he'd said he was going to do it every day since he'd gotten it, but soon days became weeks, which transformed into months until finally he'd arrived at his current predicament.

"Gah!" The boy shut his book, giving up. He moved to his window, left wide open. It produced a gentle breeze that ruffled his soft brown hair, giving him an almost thoughtful look. The 16 year-old could almost find himself hating his solitude. _It's your own fault. _He reprimanded himself. Ever since a young age, he'd found himself targeted, maybe for his attitude, and not wanting anyone to get hurt, took it upon himself to drive others away.

Sighing, he shut his window. The peaceful silence interrupted by sudden loud shouts of, "AKIRAAAAAA~! LET'S GO PLAY! AKIRAAA, I SAID AKIRAA~!" At the sound of his name being yelled over and over, the teen grumbled to himself, staying quiet, hoping that maybe the dyed blond would go away. Unfortunately, just like every other night, no such luck would be found; the other boy would just not give up.

"SHUT THE HELL UP YOU IDIOT!" Akira exploded at Kengo, knowing Kengo would hear him just fine.

"Oh, so you _are _there!" the other replied cheerfully, as ignorant about one's own imminent death as could be.

"Ohh Ke~nn~go!" Akira's sickly sweet voice emanated from the darkness in the streets around the blond boy. He shivered.

"C'mon Akira…I meant well…y-you know that right?" Kengo was cut off as a cold hand gripped his shoulder from behind. "GYAHHHHHHH!" He was thrown into a nearby wall, causing a dent and some rubble to fall to the ground with a clatter.

"That was for being annoying," The steel-hearted young man spoke, dusting off his hands. A tremor ran down his spine and Akira whipped around. His eyes searched the darkness and saw, well, absolutely nothing. "Kengo, let's go," His words were curt and to the point. Kengo, who had been crumpled on the floor, seemed to appear new again.

"Okay!" he dragged Akira down the street and to the arcade, their nightly haunt. As per usual, the duo beat up a group of boys their age that were looking for trouble and retuned home shortly afterward.

"See ya in school tomorrow!" The cheerful boy called to Akira.

"Yeah, yeah," Akira grumbled quietly so Kengo couldn't hear him. All night the boy had felt as if they'd been watched. It unnerved him but he didn't want Kengo to worry. He knew Kengo worried enough without this on top, even if he insistently denied it.

Akira would always fully attend the first day of school, it was the day's onward he would start skipping. School bugged him; there was no point to attending 45 minute classes when you could teach yourself in 10. Besides, he always handed in homework the next day and never skipped tests. He was an ace student, so even if his behavior worried his teachers, they'd get over it.

He blinked and put his cheek on his hand. Today was going to be a long day. The teacher rambled on, and at some point asked for their homework, which Akira had finished throughout the rest of his day, and thankfully managed to hand in on time.

As the last bell rang, students flooded the hallways, making the narrow passages that much narrower. Sunlight flooded through windows and the children stopped to chat with one another, catching up after summer break. Many rushed to board their busses on time, and shouts of, "See you later!" or "Call me soon!" could be heard. Akira headed home alone, for which he was thankful, Kengo had other, nicer friends to talk to. Akira hated being so unsociable sometimes, but it suited him, so he guessed it was fine.

He studied the ground as he walked. He listened to the sound of birds chirping, a light breeze ruffled his hair, over all it was a nice day. Suddenly he found himself on the ground, he glanced up in annoyance. _How hadn't I seen that person?_ Said person bent down and offered to help Akira up.

He looked up into a smiling face framed by snow-white hair. The (man?) person had bright pink lips that contrasted his light skin; he wore a top hot and bore a striking resemblance to the Cheshire cat. Yes, his smile was THAT creepy.

He took the hand with a strong grip, surprised when his grip was returned with one of greater strength.

"Now Akira, it isn't nice to try to crush the hand of someone who just wanted to make sure you were okay," the (yes, definitely a man) spoke with a pleasant voice, neutral of all emotion.

"How do you know my name?" Akira's reply was just as stoic.

"All in time dear boy," came the devoid voice. Akira glared at the newcomer. He inched back, hoping merely to run from confrontation, he didn't feel like dealing with another fight today.

"I don't know what you want, but please, can this wait for another day?" The pale man also wore a long dark trench coat, and if that wasn't suspicious, Akira didn't know what was.

"My name is Shirogane," the other spoke, ignoring Akira completely. "I merely wished to meet you," Shirogane suddenly became quiet, demeanor changing entirely. "Have you…ever noticed the existence of your shadow?" Akira's eyes widened perceptibly. _Great, I'm talking to a psychopath? _Shirogane chuckled now, if it was possible, scaring Akira further. "You haven't, have you?"

"W-what?" The teen found himself saying. Shirogane vanished, appearing behind Akira, and whispered.

"You see? I don't have a shadow." The boy ran home faster than he'd ever known possible.

He was trying to flee fate. But fate had a strange way of catching up to him. And he'd thought his life was boring? _Maybe it would have been better if those days had remained boring._


	2. Winding Roads A Path of Shadows

A/N: I…I actually got reviews…I'm so happy! I was afraid no one would read it…Thank you SO MUCH! I'm, well, extremely insecure, so this means a lot…I'll try not to let anyone down…also, if you have ideas as to where I should take my story that would be greatly appreciated too! I apologize I didn't reply directly, I am really rather…um, well, shy to say the least. So I'll thank you here until I feel bold enough… *peeks out from behind a rock* Harsh critiques welcome!

Ch. 2: Winding Roads; a Path of Shadows

The sun shone brightly, casting its rays over a picturesque scene. Pure white cotton clouds dotted light blue skies as trees swayed in tune to a breeze known only to them. The landscape was completed with fall colors and ripening apples.

Yet it was completely lost on one Nikaido Akira.

The teen was on his schools roof, his favorite place to hide from the demon prefect Aya. He lay on his side, eyes closed. The child was napping since he hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. Thoughts about the pale man clouded his mind. And why, for the love of all things sane, when he pictured the man, was there a PINK background?

"A-ki-ra~!" A female's singsong voice danced around the roof, waking the boy with its barely concealed threat. The gray-eyed teen sat up blearily, rubbing at his eyes.

"A-Aya?" He sat up and glanced around, then yawned. Aya paused for a moment, looking slightly worried before her face morphed back to its previous demonic grin. The prefect, with medium length brown hair and brown eyes grabbed Akira by the collar of his shirt.

"YOU'RE COMING WITH ME RIGHT NOW! WE ARE GOING BACK TO CLASS AND YOU'RE **STAYING **THERE! GOT IT?" Akira, who had finally gotten his bearings, gulped.

"Alright Aya, I'm going, let's not be hasty." Aya was confused, she'd expected a fight.

"You're actually going? Thanks Aki-" She was cut off when Akira, who had been walking to the door spoke.

"It can't be helped. I'm going home!" And with those final words the teenager ran from the school. Aya fumed; how hadn't she seen it coming before?

At home, Akira caught up on his school work in a matter of minutes. _Too easy._ Now all he had to do was wait for Kengo to show up, that would relieve some of his boredom, right? He found himself lying on his floor, wishing for some entertainment. Without it, he couldn't keep his mind from wandering back to that man.

_He said his name was Shirogane…what was up with those other creepy things he said? He mentioned…not having a shadow? _At this, Akira glanced at his own shadow. On a whim, he leaned down and touched it. Almost compulsively he flinched back. _What am I doing?_

The teen shoved one of his hands in his pocket, the other idly traveled up to finger the dog collar around his neck. He thought about the reasons he wore it. Not that he'd ever tell anyone. To him, the dog collar was, and forever would be, nothing more than a weakness. Like telling the world that someone owned him. His secret would come out eventually, but that would be a story for another day.

Akira broke from his musings when he heard a loud breath of air coming from outside his house. He glanced up (dark already?) and beat the other to yelling.

"I SWEAR IF YOU YELL MY NAME I WILL RIP YOUR ASS OF A HEAD OUT, COOK IT, AND FEED IT TO YOUR SISTER!" The light sound of an exhaling breath could be heard outside. Upon appearing at his door, Akira was treated to the sight of a kicked-puppy expression on Kengo.

"My sister would know it was me…she wouldn't eat me…would she?" Akira rolled his eyes, effectively shutting Kengo up.

"C'mon, let's just go," Kengo, renewed, happily led the way to their frequented hang-out. They were about to beat up the normal trio that always challenged them to fight, but that night someone else showed up.

"What are you doing here?" Demon prefect Aya. Akira and Kengo shared knowing glances.

"Please die for me Kengo!" Akira shoved a protesting Kengo in front of him and tried a mad dash for the exit. The demon, which already had Kengo, grabbed the back of the other teens' shirt and dragged him outside. "You know," Akira began, "I don't think you have to do rounds this late," Aya looked at him like he'd grown three heads. He shifted uncomfortably.

"I know that you idiot!" She positioned her bamboo sword as if to beat them up. "And," she continued, "Unless you accompany me to the school, I will not hesitate to use this," If possible, the menacing aura surrounding her intensified.

"O-okay," the boys complied meekly. She smiled.

"Thanks! The school is creepy at night!"

Well, as it turned out Aya was not the only one the school scared at night. Kengo jumped at every noise, clinging to Akira as if he were a lifeline. They stood inside the classroom, waiting for Aya to find her things.

"Ah! Here it is!" The girl proudly pulled a dragon plushy from her desk. "I can't go to sleep without him!" Akira, who'd expected something more manly, gaped unashamedly at her. "W-What?" she asked defensively. "Akira, if you don't stop staring, so help me I will not hesitate to beat you to a pulp!"

The odd team of three began to make their way outside when Akira stopped. "Something's here," His words were outright unexpected from the only one there who didn't believe in ghosts.

"EH?" Aya and Kengo joined one another in unison, looking about frantically. With a sudden burst of movement a strange bug-like creature emerged from around the corner. The humans fled the opposite direction.

Somewhere, deep in his heart, Akira knew they wouldn't escape without something happening. He just never knew what. Then the creatures appeared in front of them. One used its scythe claw, cutting the head off Aya's plushie. The girl screamed and fainted, taking Kengo down with her.

_Wonderful. _Akira kicked the things back, they were surrounded. Calamity was certain to ensue; the chaos would take the children's heads and leave nothing in its wake. Yet there came a small miracle in the shape of someone creepily familiar to Akira. A bright orange light encased the people in a warm, makeshift barrier.

The man turned to Akira. "In need of help I see?"

"Not from you I don't!" Akira, ever hot-headed, was forming escape routes in his head. "Besides," he blurted the first thing that came to mind, "What were you talking about? Not having a shadow?"

"Well you see Akira," Shirogane replied, almost casually, as if in an everyday occurrence. "I am something called a shin. I am not a person, but a shadow," Akira chose that moment to have the world's brightest epiphany.

"And…you want me to help you fight these things?" The teen shook his head in disbelief, "They aren't even affected by my attacks! No way could I do that!"

"Ah, but you could…become a shin," Shirogane took Akira's chin, forcing him to look at the older of the two. The boy flushed bright red, his eyes downcast.

"I would **never **do that!" He made his words final, each syllable more vehement than the last. The gray-eyed teen broke away from Shirogane, running, leaving the barrier behind. He managed to get outside before his steps began slowing.

"Wait! Don't run from under the barrier!" Shirogane's cries fell on deaf ears. He sighed. _How difficult are you going to make this Akira?_

"What the hell?" The once solid ground was now spongy, soon giving away entirely. _How did I get underwater?_ He opened his eyes. _Can't breathe….Is this how it ends?_ A pair of strong hands clad in white gloves pulled him up.

"Honestly, you've lost your shadow Akira; you can't just wander about being shadow-less." Akira glared (adorably) up at Shirogane.

"Put. Me. Down. NOW."

"Do you really want to die?"

"Well…not exactly…?" At the end of his reply, Akira brought up the end of his words, turning it into a question. "Well then how do I live?" The young man's resolve came back full force.

"Like this…" Shirogane pressed his lips to Akira's, pulling the smaller boy into a kiss. Akira turned a bright red color, his eyes widening ever so slightly. He leaned into the kiss, closing his eyes before opening them, now a deep blood-red. His hair shifted from light brown into a jet black in seconds. And pulling him completely from the ground revealed a new outfit including a white dress shirt with small red crosses on the collar. Over it laid a black vest coming down into a cape. He also wore deep red and very tight shorts that came just below the knee, over which a white bandage was wrapped over his right leg. And inch of skin on his legs was exposed before hitting some (extremely sexy) black boots. The only thing that remained was with black dog collar.

The boy found he now had two knives in his hands, and growled lightly before taking out a couple of the creatures. "What are these things anyway?" Akira took some more of them down.

"They are called kokuchi!" the light reply came. "And we are destroying them so as to keep the balance between light and dark stable!" All in all, by the time they'd managed to defeat them and find the rift to seal it, it had become morning.

"Now how do I turn back?" the demand wasn't much unexpected, in fact Shirogane knew the question would arise sooner rather than later. He sighed heavily.

"You can't, and now normal humans can't see you either" Akira's world shattered, his days of normalcy would never be quite so normal, he would never get back the times where someone's life didn't depend quite so heavily on him.

"B-but-" Akira could not bring himself to finish the sentence.

"Hmmmm…" Shirogane mused. "Maybe it would turn you back if we were to kiss again?" Akira blushed, cheeks turning a rosy color.

"No way in hell!" Shirogane chuckled quietly in response, loving the way Akira reacted. _Obviously his first time._

"Fine, fine!" the shadow disappeared, leaving Akira by himself. The boy didn't notice his clothes go back to normal or hair turning brown again.

"Akira!" his friends shouted, running towards him. He turned, blinded by light spilling into the clearing.

"You can see me?" They nodded, confused by his response.

"SHIROGANE!" Akira had a minor freak out.

Contemplate the value of your life. Continue on your road…even if it should become a dark and twisted place where no one cares.

A/N: I apologize for the mistakes I didn't catch…I hope my writing isn't too bad, I'm in ninth grade so I know for a fact it isn't consistent, but please *begging* bear with me!


	3. Heart to Heart I don't Love you!

A/N: Shall I give excuses at the oh-so-lovely bottom?

Ch. 3: Heart to Heart: I Don't Love You!

Akira just couldn't get used to it. No matter how hard he tried, the red sky he saw whenever he transformed into a shin **still **freaked him out. The kokuchi didn't help with his already fraying nerves.

Did he mention the sky reminded him of blood? No? Well for good measure; it did.

But none of it took his mind off a certain white haired shin that followed him around wherever he went. He hated that whenever he wanted to be alone, the shin was _right there __**following **__him around._ If that wasn't weird, the advances he passed at him were even creepier. And even worse? They just made him think about the man more.

"Akira?" A whiny voice appeared somewhere near his bed, where currently he was pretending to be asleep. "Don't you love me back? At all? Do you feel nothing for me?" The teen growled loudly and Shirogane smiled brightly. Akira buried his face further into the pillows, hoping to hide the fact that he was actually blushing. Those words made him want to hear more, and that in itself was unbearable.

"Shut up Shirogane. Let me sleep or I'll be even angrier with you tomorrow." His reply was curt.

He wasn't really angry with him, more by the fact that Shirogane had introduced a lot of new feelings to him, whether ones he could identify or couldn't. A sudden chill swept through the room.

"Kokuchi," Shirogane looked out the window, searching.

"What are you waiting for then?" Akira's hair and eyes changed color as he made his own transformation, becoming a shadow being.

The outside was colder than normal. Trees blew listlessly with the wind, shadows danced on the ground with them. Small eyes glittered among dense foliage lining the sides of a path through the local park. Through this peaceful scene, a shout penetrated once silent air.

"Shirogane! Get him!" Akira threw the stunned kokuchi to his ally as another came at him. _I'm going to be so tired tomorrow…that's okay; I wasn't planning on sleeping anyway. _Meanwhile, Shirogane took down bug after bug, going through them like butter. (Ew, bug-butter X.X)

Akira ducked, narrowly avoiding the sharp blade that was a kokuchi's hand, and slashed at the monster in front of him. Jumping, he flipped midair and plunged one of his knives into his enemies' head. More appeared around them and Akira heard Shirogane take in a long breath of air.

"We're in for a long night,"

"Akira, can I pleeeaaaseee sleep in bed with youuu?"

"For the bazillionth time tonight, I said **NO!**"

"Fine, but isn't it cold by yourself?" Shirogane was persistent as usual.

"No, now can I please have at least an hour of sleep before school tomorrow?" Akira huffed angrily, tired.

"I get it…but why do you even go? It's not like you attend class, and if we stayed home, then you and I could spend some, ahem, **quality** time together, don't you agree?" A pillow was promptly thrown into Shirogane's face. "Akira, pillows don't make good weapons you know? If you really wanted to do damage, you should use-"

"**Yes Shirogane, please, do tell what I should use to debilitate and possibly kill you with.**" Shirogane could swear there were some days he wouldn't be able to tell the difference if the devil himself had shown up at his doorstep. The white haired shin fell silent and soon enough he could hear Akira's breathing become even. It soothed him, making him sleepy as well. Before he drifted off he doubted himself as always. _Akira must be the one, time is running out._

A blaring alarm jolted Akira out of his deep sleep. He growled fiercely, smashing the off button and highly considered throwing the contraption out his window. He dressed and got ready to leave quickly.

Akira wore his usual blue and white school uniform, as well as his signature dog collar. His brown hair lay messily even after he brushed it, along with a few strands that just never seemed to want to sit on his head. His overall posture seemed tired and was proved correct by massive bags under his pretty eyes. Shirogane could see all this, and being that he wasn't exactly awake either, decided to put a stop to this madness.

"Akira…" Akira turned to face his shadow expectantly. Shirogane's hand gripped Akira's chin forcefully, unwilling to allow the boy to even quarter turn his head.

"What do you want Shirogane?!" Akira spoke, slightly flustered from the contact, though never allowing it to show on his face.

"Won't you stay home today? Pretty please? You're just as tired as I am if not more…" He attempted fluttering his eyelashes only to just blink rapidly a few times, making it look like perhaps he had something in his eyes.

"I wasn't attending class anyway," Akira began, making Shirogane hopeful, "But I want to go nap on the rooftop." He sighed and visibly wilted. _At least I tried…_

"By the way Akira," Shirogane spoke, something occurring to him, "Why is it you wear that collar all the time?" But when he looked up Akira was already out of the house running down the street.

A/N: Sooo, I could give excuses like the fact that I had really bad writers block for the past 6 months -_- and say that this was mostly written but every time I read it seemed worse and worse to me, but I think I'll just go with, "I was lazy" because I'm too lazy to type all that. Wait, you say I just did? In any case, criticism is good


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